Father Of Mesut Ozil Thinks 'Scapegoat' Should Quit Germany

In fact, the amount of criticism that the Arsenal midfielder has received for his lacklustre performances at the World Cup have convinced Ozil's father that his son should quit global duty altogether.

Arsene Wenger has stressed that his former player Mesut Ozil needs support in light of the calls for the playmaker to retire in the wake of Die Mannschaft's disastrous group stage exit from the World Cup.

Ozil faced backlash before the tournament after he and team-mate Ilkay Gundogan were snapped with controversial Turkeypresident Tayyip Erdogan.

On Thursday, team boss Oliver Bierhoff suggested that perhaps Germany should have considered dropping Ozil, who has Turkish roots, after his failure to explain himself over the issue.

Bild spoke with Özil's father, Mustafa, to discuss the antics of the German fans in regards to how they treat his son, and it is clear that his father is not happy with the situation. In Mesut's place, I would step down.

Ozil and Germany teammate Ilkay Gundogan, who are of Turkish heritage, were criticised by politicians and Grindel for having the picture taken with Erdogan in May and booed by fans in subsequent matches.

Ozil struggled in Russian Federation as Joachim Low's side failed to make it out of Group F.

It wasn't the first photo of Mesut with Erdogan, I knew it wasn't a political statement from him or anything like that. "I can understand if he feels insulted", he said.

"He has been playing for nine years in the German team. including becoming world champions".

And he added: "The hurt has grown too strong". It always happens: if we win, we do it together. "But if I were in his place, I'd say - thanks a lot but that's it!"

I would personally be very surprised if he dons the Germany shirt ever again after the disgusting scenes when the Germans were knocked out of the World Cup, and Ozil showed his massive disappointment in his treatment by the fans.